যুগল-চরণ সেবি, নিরন্তর এই ভাবি,
অনুরাগী থাকিব সদায় ।
সাধনে ভাবিব যাহা, সিদ্ধদেহে পাব তাহা,
রাগপথের এই সে উপায় ॥ ৫৫ ॥
yugala-caraṇa sebi, nirantara ei bhābi,
anurāgī thākiba sadāya |
sādhane bhābiba yāhā, siddha-dehe pāba tāhā,
rāga-pathera ei se upāya || 55 ||
I shall always remained devoted to Śrī Yugala’s lotus feet and shall constantly meditate on serving them. I shall obtain in my siddha-deha that which I contemplate during sādhana. This is the method for those on the path of rāga.
The Consistency of Sādhana and Siddhi
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In the previous verse Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has given a hint of the rāgānugīya-sādhaka’s mental service; in this verse he describes the method and results of that mental service. After establishing a sense of self in their own guru-given siddha-svarūpas, the rāgānugīya Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sādhakas perform mental sevā while contemplating Śrī Śrī Gaura-Govinda’s aṣṭa-kāla-līlā. The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācārya Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmipāda has described the aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā in brief aphorisms within his Smaraṇa-Maṅgala-Stotra. With that as support, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmipāda narrated Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā very extensively in his book Śrī-Śrī-Govinda-Līlāmṛta. Like Śrī Bhagīratha, he has blessed the sādhaka community with a Gaṅgā-like stream of līlā-rasa. Later on, in his book Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Bhāvanāmṛta, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda gave an elaborate description of all the līlās that had been only briefly described in Govinda-Līlāmṛta, thus increasing in every way the storehouse of aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā-rasa. It is impossible to obtain a vision of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s līlā without first meditating on Śrī Śrī Gaurāṅga’s līlā. Therefore, at a later time Śrī Govardhana resident Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Siddha Bābā was given darśana of Śrī Rādhārāṇī, wherein she personally instructed him to develop for her devoted Vaiṣṇavas a system of meditation suitable for Śrī Śrī Gaura-Govinda’s aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā. After receiving this order from his beloved Śrī Rādhā, Śrīla Siddha Bābā compiled the Śrī-Śrī-Gaura-Govinda-Līlāmṛta-Guṭikā, thus creating a manual for līlā-smaraṇa that was in all respects suitable for the rāga-sādhaka’s meditation. To enable the community of sādhakas to taste the rasa of this aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā through the realizations of the mahājanas, Śrīla Siddha Bābā compiled a book called Śrī-Bhāvanā-Sāra-Saṅgraha, which is a large collection of verses that describe the various līlās. In this way, the previous mahājanas have vastly enriched the treasure trove of Śrī Śrī Gaura-Govinda’s aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā, which supports the internal bhajana of the rāgānugīya Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas who have taken shelter at Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet. Within his constant meditation on those aṣṭa-kālīna-līlās, the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sādhaka also contemplates the sevā he most likes to perform. Therefore, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, yugala-caraṇa sebi, nirantara ei bhābi, anurāgī thākiba sadāya. In his book Śrī-Bhakti-Sandarbha, within the discussion of the smaraṇa limb of bhakti, Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmipāda has referred to evidence from the Śrī-Garuḍa-Purāṇa showing the necessity for constant meditation on Śrī Hari.
ekasminn apy atikrānte muhūrte dhyāna-varjite |
dasyubhir muṣitenaiva yuktam ākrandituṁ bhṛśam ||
“If one spends even a moment without thinking of Śrī Hari, he should weep in lamentation like a person who has lost everything to thieves.” Therefore, the mahājanas have given a system of aṣṭa-kāla-līlā-smaraṇa by which the bhakta-sādhakas don’t waste even a moment of the day or night and by which they can be blessed with loving service at the lotus feet of their beloved deities. The rāgānugīya rasika-bhaktas do not rely on the instructions of śāstra and are dependent only upon longing or ardent desire. They follow (not imitate) the bhāva of the nitya-siddha rāgātmikā-vrajavāsīs, and in constant allegiance to them, eagerly engage in mental sevā while contemplating Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s pastimes. Therefore, the following has been written in Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 22.156-157 regarding rāgānugā-bhakti-sādhana:
bāhya antara ihāra dui ta sādhana |
bāhya-sādhaka-dehe kare śrabaṇa-kīrtana ||
mane nija-siddha-deha kariyā bhābana |
rātri-dina kare braje kṛṣṇera sebana ||
“There are two types of sādhana in rāgānugā-bhakti: external and internal. In the external sādhaka body, the devotee performs śravaṇa and kīrtana. In the mind, he meditates on his own siddha-deha and serves Śrī Kṛṣṇa day and night in Vraja.” Consequently, the rāgānugīya Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sādhaka remains absorbed in his svarūpa, speaking nothing of the world. Roaming about always in the kingdom of love, he spends his life devoted to bhajana. anurāgī thākiba sadāya. Thus, if the sādhaka performs bhajana in allegiance to those who belong to the nitya-siddha svarūpa-śakti group, his bhāva will become one with theirs. By the mercy of his guru-rūpā-mañjarī, he is blessed with success and obtains the direct sevā of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava in his mañjarī-svarūpa in the bowers of Vrajadhāma.
Therefore, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, sādhane bhābiba yāhā, siddha-dehe pāba tāhā, rāga-pathera ei se upāya. One most spiritually scientific truth has been deposited within the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas’ method of contemplating aṣṭa-kāla-līlā. We find the following in Chāndogya-Upaniṣad 3.14.1: yathā-kratur-asmin-loke puruṣo bhavati tathetaḥ pretya bhavati sa kratuṁ kurvīta. The jīva’s mental state in this life determines the state he will attain after leaving the body. Therefore, the sādhaka must take shelter of love. This is also found in the Bṛhad-Āraṇyaka-Upaniṣad 4.4.5: sa yathā-kāmo bhavati tat-kratur bhavati tat karma-kurute yat karma-kurute tad-abhisaṁpadyate iti. “To the degree a jīva is attached to his desires, he similarly becomes engaged in work (karma). Whatever work he is engaged in, that work he accomplishes. The type of work he accomplishes determines the result he obtains.” This is also found elsewhere in the śruti-vākya: yathā yathopāsate tad eva bhavantīti. “That which one is intent upon, that he becomes.” In Śrī-Bhagavad-Gītā 8.6, Śrī Bhagavān says, yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram, taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ. “Whatever state of being one contemplates, he remembers at the time of death; and whatever state he remembers at death, he will attain after leaving the body.” This power of contemplation is a scientific truth. From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.9.23:
kīṭaḥ peśaskṛtaṁ dhyāyan kuḍyāṁ tena praveśitaḥ |
yāti tat-sātmatāṁ rājan pūrva-rūpam asantyajan ||
“When a wasp seals her larva within the walls of her nest, the larva thinks constantly of the wasp and transforms into a similar form without even giving up its previous body.” If there is such power in the contemplation of material things, then there can be no doubt that by contemplating Śrī Bhagavān, the transcendental form of condensed spirit and embodiment of the supreme truth, the devotee’s desire will be realized with the help of the divine bhakti-śakti. Śrī Kṛṣṇa said to Śrī Uddhava in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.15.26,
yathā saṅkalpayed buddhyā yadā vā matparaḥ pumān |
mayi satye mano yuñjaṁs tathā tat samupāśnute ||
“A person obtains that which he desires by devoting himself to me and directing his mind toward me, for my wish is always fulfilled.” That meditation which is performed by the sādhaka after he has taken shelter of Śrī Bhagavān, the supreme truth incarnate, and which has the powerful support of bhakti, the essential function of Śrī Bhagavān’s hlādinī-śakti, can never result in useless imagination. He obtains in his siddha-deha, or in his internally conceived, guru-given mañjarī body, the same aṣṭa-kāla-sevā of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava that he contemplates during sādhana. There is no exception to this. This is the best method for achieving one’s desires through rāga-bhajana.
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